Working to resolve realty sector issues in Noida: UP minister

Addressing the media via video, state infrastructure and industrial development minister Satish Mahana said that working on various suggestions given by stakeholders, the government is trying to resolve bottlenecks in stalled projects.

Uttar Pradesh infrastructure and industrial development minister Satish Mahana on Thursday said the state government is trying to resolve the issues of stalled real estate projects in Noida and Greater Noida.

File photo for representational purposes. (Bloomberg )

Addressing the media via video, the minister said that working on various suggestions given by stakeholders, the government is trying to resolve bottlenecks in stalled projects. “A number of builders in Noida and Greater Noida have been declared defaulters as they have not delivered their projects on time. It’s obvious that with their hard-earned investments stuck for many years, thousands of homebuyers must be cursing their fates. The state government has received some proposals, which include pledging units with different development authorities,” he said.

He added that there are huge investments coming in the electronic sector. “All industrial development authorities in the state have been asked to provide land to mega and above-category industries within 15 days from the date of application. Through this preferential allotment system, three mega companies, including a tech giant, have been benefited so far. Also, the state government set up a dedicated helpdesk at Invest UP in April 2020, which has far attracted more than 96 investment intents, including intents from companies from around 10 countries, including Japan, US, UK, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Singapore worth around ₹66,000 crores,” he said.

Claiming to provide an ecosystem through industrial parks, Mahana said that the country’s “first mega leather park” is being made in Unnao. “Spread over 42 acres, the park is planned with a total estimated cost of ₹550 Crores. It’ll also improve Kanpur’s position among the top 10 largest leather-producing hubs of the country. Besides, a logistics hub and a heritage city are also coming up along the Yamuna Expressway,” he said.

Mahana also said that the government is developing a Trans-Ganga City on 1,144 hectares at Unnao. “To capitalise on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, we are developing a Perfume Park along with a perfume museum at Kannauj on 30 hectares of land. A mega food park at Baheri in Bareilly is also being constructed and is likely to be ready-to-move by October this year,” he said, adding that the state government is providing instant incentives to new industrial units to create growth centres in the Poorvanchal, Madhyanchal and Bundelkhand regions.

Replying to a query on the progress of upcoming expressways, the minister said that the 340.82-km-long Purvanchal Expressway will be in operation from next month as 95% of the work has been completed. “Over 60% of the work has been completed on the 297-km Bundelkhand Expressway. For the proposed Ganga Expressway, more than 5,000 hectares has been acquired. Besides, our government has paid ₹5,000 crore to approximately 63,500 farmers for this project as compensation,” he said, adding that work on the Ganga Expressway is expected to start from September and will be completed within 36 months of commencement.

He also claimed that UP has been the only state to have reported “zero man days loss” during the second wave. “It was mainly due to the activation of district industries centre (DIC) at the ground level in coordination with the district administration, to issue orders for opening of factories of essential services, like food and milk processing units, and to ensure essential services vehicles keep on moving. During the initial days, the department of industries also ensured the duty passes to all the concerned persons,” he said.